Kevin Lee let the UFC Lightweight Championship slip through his fingers last year, when Tony Ferguson defeated him at UFC 216. Even though he's only fought once since then, he has his eye on another marquee bout.
Lee wouldn't commit to when he'll return to the cage, but did say that he'd be open to taking a late summer fight with box office attraction Nate Diaz. In an exclusive interview with Fightful.com, Lee broke down the possibility of following up his beating of Edson Barboza in Atlantic City with Diaz.
"You know I'm going to talk my shit, too. We'll see. I don't think Nate wants to fight a top contender, someone who is a challenge for him. The challenge for me is getting that man to fight. Who knows? I might see him around here in Vegas and go all Shannon Briggs on him. 'Let's go champ!' You never know how this thing will shake up. He's sitting on the outskirts. You have Eddie (Alvarez), you have Dustin (Poirier). The big one I want is Khabib," said Lee.
Lee has stated in the past that Diaz has turned down fights against him, and Lee himself has tried to have the fight put together on multiple occasions. Lee knows full well that where he lands has much to do with Conor McGregor's decision and future.
"Conor McGregor is the X factor. Could he take that fight with Khabib? Sure," Lee said. "Is it going to make money? Sure. How much are they going to have to pay Conor? $10-15 million? I'll beat Khabib's ass for $2 million, and it makes the Conor fight bigger after that. There's going to be some negotiations to be had. I think I have three more fights on the deal, but for this one I think we're going to have to renegotiate. I put in my work and it's time to see some backing from that."
In the full interview, Kevin Lee (17-3) recaps his fifth round TKO win over Edson Barboza (19-6) at UFC Fight Night 128 on Apr. 21. You can see the full interview above.
